


Two Roads Diverged

by lena-in-a-red-dress (CSIGurlie07)



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/M, an exchange of ideals, and actual discussion, and james' choice to join them back in s4, and some ethical repercussions, if the writers every chose to have lena and james have a meaningful conversation, instead of having them simply talk at one another, it was written concurrently with the season, this fic revisits the children of liberty, this is what i feel should have happened, yessssss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:42:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23951743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CSIGurlie07/pseuds/lena-in-a-red-dress
Summary: When James chooses to join the Children of Liberty, he finds there are unexpected repercussions. (a 4x05 missing scene/alt. ending)
Relationships: Lena Luthor/James "Jimmy" Olsen
Comments: 1
Kudos: 18





	Two Roads Diverged

When James goes to L-Corp to tell her that he got the meeting with Lockwood, and proudly announce his plan is in motion, Lena rises from her desk with reticence in her eyes.

“I don’t like this.”

“It’ll be all right,” he assures her, crossing to join her by the window. He rubs his hands along her folded arms, smiling. “I can handle myself, all right? We talked about this–”

“No, _you_ talked,” Lena bristles, “and I held my tongue because I know you need to feel like you’re doing something immediate, and I know how anxious you’ve been without being able to act as Guardian, but James– this is madness.”

James sighs. “There’s somebody behind the scenes, someone we don’t know about. If we have someone in the weeds with them–”

“In the weeds? What you’re proposing is walking into a lion’s den! It’s dangerous, and reckless, and if you’d just stop to consider–”

James would bristle then. “We need a way to get through to them. I’ll find out who’s leading them, and find a way to take them down. And who knows? Maybe I can redeem some of them.”

“There’s no reasoning with them, James. I tried! For years I _reasoned_ , and debated, and argued and _begged_ until I was blue in the face and now my brother is serving 32 life sentences! My mother is in prison for the second time in as many years. The hate started so small, and then it consumed them until there was nothing left. I can’t– I couldn’t bear to see the same thing happen to you.“

"It won’t.”

“You say that now, but you’ve never–”

“They’re just people–”

“I know they’re just people! Okay? I grew up with them: they combed my hair and told me bedtime stories, I _know_ they’re people!! And I believed them! I shared their views for a long, _long_ time.”

James reaches for her, wishing he can stop her vibrating. She lets him make contact, just for a moment. “But you left it behind.”

“Because I moved to National City, and opened my eyes to the fact that while some aliens were to be feared, there were far more just living their lives like anyone else, but with fewer advantages and less protection. It wasn’t an Agent Liberty or a Ben Lockwood who did that. It was seeing aliens out on the street, living their lives without harming or bothering anyone. It was meeting children at the hospital, and meeting their families, and seeing how like us they truly are. 

“And even now, even knowing the truth, I _still_ have moments when I catch myself thinking like them and I hate it. It’s like a disease…”

James can’t say anything. He’s accepted that Lena isn’t like her family. But he’d assumed she never had been, that it simply wasn’t who she was. He never considered that it had been a choice.

“Confrontation won’t curb their rhetoric– the only way to fight it is to deprive it of soil to grow in.” Lena takes his hands in her hers, gripping them tightly.

“Use CatCo to sow seeds of compassion,” she urges, “broaden the public’s horizons in ways they’ve never had a reason to. Help them see beyond the burden of their own hardships, and help them see that the enemy isn’t the disenfranchised, but the institutions that have all failed to keep up with our galactic reality.”

James doesn’t want to argue with her. He can’t. She’s right. But he can’t sit idle either. Lena seems to realize this, and her fervor tempers to professional diplomacy. Her hands slip away, leaving his skin cold in their wake.

“I can’t stop you,” she tells him. “But I won’t condone it. And neither will CatCo.”

That takes him by surprise. “What does that mean?”

“If you do this, I expect you to tender your resignation as editor-in-chief.”

“You’re joking.”

“Cat Grant built CatCo Media to be a progressive, positive voice in this country,” she reminds him. “I intend to honor that. CatCo will continue to do what it does best– win hearts and minds and remind the world that there is still good in it, both human and alien.”

James stares at her. He didn’t expect the ultimatum, and he should have. “And when it’s all over… will there be a job waiting for me?”

Ruby lips press into a firm line. “That would depend.”

“On what?”

“On what kind of man comes out the other side.”


End file.
